Teenage driver crash risks remain.

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More than 200 teeenage car passengers were killed when a young driver was involved

in a crash in 2013 according to the latest figures.

In 2013, 234 teenage passengers were killed, more than four each week of the year and when casualties of all severities are included the annual figure rose to 2,144

or around 41 each week according to research by the RAC foundation.

The data also shows that of all teenage car passengers killed or seriously injured over this period:

– 45% were passengers in cars driven by 17 _ 19 year olds(1.5%

of all full license holders)

– 23% were passengers in cars driven by 20 _ 24 year olds (5.8%

of all full license holders)

_ 31% were passengers in cars driven by drivers aged 25 and over ( 92.6%

of all full license holders)

_ 1% were passengers in cars driven by drivers aged 16 and younger, drivers (17_19) make up only (1.5%) of full license holders , but they were involved in (12% ) of accidents where someone is killed or seriously hurt.

RAC foundation director Stephen Glaister said: the coalition government repeatedly promised to publish a green paper on young driver safety and repeatedly failed to do so. In the meantime young people have  continued to die on our roads. We would urge the new government to do what the the last one did not and debate the subject formally and publicly.

Drugs and driving

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Motorists who get behind the wheel after taking illegal drugs and continue driving face a criminal record, loss of their license for at least a year and a fine of up to £5ooo in England and Wales.

New legislation came into force as of 2nd March 2015 making it illegal to drive with certain drugs in the body above specified levels, including 8 illegal drugs and 8 prescription drugs.

People using prescription drugs within recommended amounts will not be penalised.

Police forces will have accsess to new screening equipment to test suspected drug drivers and will be able to screen drivers for cannibis and cocaine at the roadside.

In addition officers will be able to screen for other drugs including ecstasy,LSD,ketamine and heroin at a police station, even if a driver passes a roadside check.

The law covers the use of 8 drugs commonly associated with medicinal use, that are sometimes abused and the limits have been set at higher rates based on the evidence of the road safety risk and to reflect their use as medicines.

These drugs are

: Morphine : Diazepan : Clonaepan : Flunitrazepan : Lorazepan : Oxazepan : Temazepan : Methadone : Amphetamines

If in doubt as to the strength of drugs you may have been prescribed seek advice from your G.P.

Don,t take chances let,s keep safe no drugs and driving.

Middle aged and Older drivers

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Middle aged and older drivers,

Have you had a near miss lately?

Do you feel confident and competent with your driving?

Ask yourself this question “Could my driving be improved”?
If you are honest with yourself the answer will
be yes it certainly could be improved.

It is well worth spending an hour or so with a
good instructor i will guarantee you will be shocked at the amount of learning that will take place.

Better still why not take an advanced course, this will really enhance your driving skills and keep you
and every one around you safe.

You will be trained to read the road and truly anticipate hazards,
this could also get you a discount on your insurance.

You may think you are safe but are you really SAFE?????

Would,nt it be nice to take pride in your driving again rather than it being a chore.
Take the opportunity to vastly improve your safety on the roads show your passengers that even if you are middle aged or an older driver you are proactive in keeping up to date with the ever changing road and traffic conditions call today.

You know it makes sense.

Choosing the right instructor

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Choosing the right instructor is so important.
Learning to drive should be a very enjoyable experience, but it has to be realised that gaining the skills to be able to deal with any given situation on the roads today should be taken extremely seriously.

It is not good enough to be just able to pass a driving test , the test is not the be all and end all it is simply a doorway to being qualified to drive unsupervised.

All drivers young and old should be trained to the highest possible standard before they are allowed to take the test and then be allowed on our roads which are unsafe in themselves given the number of potholes, lack of white line replacements, dirty signage, signs covered by overgrown folage, the list goes on.

Young people make up 25% of of drivers in this country, yet are involved in 66% of crashes a lot of which are fatal, BEGGERS BELIEF in my view!!

Our roads are the third most dangerous in europe, we are behind Germany and Italy yes Italy, this is not something we should be proud of.

When choosing a driving instructor ask questions I.E. what is his or her grade, what is their pass mark, you need to know if you are going to get along with the instructor and is he going to give good value for money and is he going to teach you to be an extremely good and safe driver.

So you want to know how good he is and not how cheap he is, pay cheaply for lessons and you will get CHEAP LESSONS!!! that is unless you want to be counted among the equivilant to an airliner full of people killed every nine weeks or 2 airliners seriously injured on our roads every WEEK.

I have just had a call from a really nice chap i had taught to be a taxi driver, he recomended me to his girlfriend, to cut a long story short she went with a cheaper instructor.
He informed me she had 30 lessons and just failed her driving test miserably. I have agreed to put her driving right and get her to the safe standard that she should be at and take her for test when she is READY.

This situation is really common ,so why not learn from others mistakes before you waste your time and hard earned money.
Driving lessons advertised cheaply are nothing more than a con, remember the old saying”pay for it cheap, pay for it twice”.

You only want to do this ONCE so do it RIGHT call today you know it makes sense.

STOP PRESS!!!!!!!!!

Figures just released from The Department of Transport show that and i quote. Deaths on our roads in 2014 were up by 1% to 1,730 compared to 2013.
The number seriously injured was up by 4% to 24,360 compared with 2013. ( Stats obtained from Driving instructors association)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT?????? Think when choosing an instructor

(Statistics from the Driving Instructors Association.)